It is interesting to see that
those working in pastoral care posts in schools, hospitals and prisons etc, but
who, either as laity or deacons, do not
have the sacramental character of Priesthood are still referred to as
Chaplains. This is in breach of the teaching of the Church:
It is unlawful for
the non-ordained faithful to assume titles such as "pastor",
"chaplain", "coordinator", " moderator" or other
such similar titles which can confuse their role and that of the Pastor, who is
always a Bishop or Priest.
(On
certain questions regarding collaboration of the non-ordained in the sacred
ministry of priest. Rome, 1997)
The same is true regarding the
use of the words minister and ministry. From youth ‘ministry’ teams to those
who visit the bereaved, the terms ‘ministry’ and ‘minister’ are freely applied even
though they run contrary to the Church’s understanding of ministry. This was
clearly taught by John-Paul II in Christifideles
Laici #23 (1998):
in
fact, a person is not a minister simply in performing a task, but through
sacramental ordination. Only the Sacrament of Orders gives the ordained
minister a particular participation in the office of Christ, the Shepherd and
Head, and in his Eternal Priesthood.
It is noticeable even in regard
to Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion who we frequently see given titles
such as “Eucharistic Ministers”; “Ministers of Holy Communion”, “Special Ministers”
etc, all of which are denied to them by the Church (Redemptionis Sacramentum #156). One wonders then, why our Bishops allow
these titles to be used, and why they allow posts open to laity to be advertised
with the title of ‘Chaplain’. All of this is contrary to the teaching of the
Church and cannot be simply dismissed as terminology and use of language; language
is important: it forms our thoughts, perceptions and attitudes; incorrect
language malforms our thoughts, perceptions and attitudes. It malforms the
Church.
That this is happening under the noses of our Bishops without their addressing it is dangerous for them; it allows the faithful to question the obedience of the Bishops to Rome and indeed, to question the integrity of the Bishops and the British Church. Questions could be asked such as ‘Why do the Bishops allow this and even foster it –are we a law unto ourselves? Does doctrine play no part in the life of the Church in these Isles? Why are we allowing our laity to be deceived into believing they are something the Church says they cannot actually be because they do not have the character of orders?’ I wonder if these questions are something many folk are privately asking.
Addendum: It is worth noting that Deacons are ordained men; members of the clergy. Their exclusion from work as chaplains would be on the grounds that chaplain is a pastors role and pastors must be able to anoint and grant absolution, which requires the specific character of priesthood as conferred with the presbyterate and episcopate.
That this is happening under the noses of our Bishops without their addressing it is dangerous for them; it allows the faithful to question the obedience of the Bishops to Rome and indeed, to question the integrity of the Bishops and the British Church. Questions could be asked such as ‘Why do the Bishops allow this and even foster it –are we a law unto ourselves? Does doctrine play no part in the life of the Church in these Isles? Why are we allowing our laity to be deceived into believing they are something the Church says they cannot actually be because they do not have the character of orders?’ I wonder if these questions are something many folk are privately asking.
Addendum: It is worth noting that Deacons are ordained men; members of the clergy. Their exclusion from work as chaplains would be on the grounds that chaplain is a pastors role and pastors must be able to anoint and grant absolution, which requires the specific character of priesthood as conferred with the presbyterate and episcopate.
Well said Father.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Father.
DeleteTo be honest, these are questions some of the more knowledgeable of our people people have actually asked me to answer.
God Bless.
A very interesting post, Father. Thanks for sharing this information with us. While it is important to have an active laity, they should not be permitted to usurp the privileges of the ordained class. These so-called "lay ministries" have blurred the distinction between priest and people; this has resulted in a desacralised view of priestly ministry. After all, why become a priest when you can become a lay minister?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Philip.
DeleteIndeed laity should be active both in the world and in the parish, but authentically, not as a pseudo clergy. We have, I think, created two classes of laity in the Church today. meanwhile the sacred presbyterate is mown down in the rush.
God Bless
I'm not sure about 'overseeing'. 'Encouraging' seems more apt where I am. I can't go into church for Mass on any day without tripping over an army of ministers.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Genty.
DeleteI think encouraging becomes the norm when the overseeing gets pushed into the background by enthusiastic supporters of lay ministry who fail to see the damage they are doing to the authentic lay vocation.
ReplyDeleteI never use the term “Minister” when referring to lay people. Rather, “lay distributers of Holy Communion, instead of EMHs. A bit lengthy but it gets the point across.
Terminology use has been an obvious tactic on the part of the liberals and the Relativists who have tried to alter Catholic belief since Vat II. Change liturgy and you change belief but equally change terminology and you certainly change belief.
This touches on the whole question of the role of the laity. The argument goes that as the number of priests decline laity must step in. This is wrong reasoning. I suspect we do not actually have a shortage of priests, but rather of laity. In my part of the world the laity is declining faster than the number of priests.
What we have is far too many churches for the still rapidly declining post Vat II Church. Sorry if I’ve made this point before but the quicker we get down to a much smaller number of churches (-60%) with a parish priest and curate, able to properly look after parishioners, the better.
But all that will require courageous, competent, managing bishops, and that, we don’t appear to have?
Thank you, Jocobi.
DeleteAn interesting point that laity are decreasing. Honestly, as I argued in my previous post, we need to focus on valuing and preparing folk for, the authentic lay vocation in the world by solid catechesis, not making the priest shortage worse by suggesting anyone can fill in for them.
God Bless
Good points made Father, I recall asking my PP similar questions and told simply 'its the way things are done in this diocese'. One of the reasons I no longer attend a NO Mass or diocesan parish. They are not loyal to the Magesterium so are they protestants?
ReplyDeleteGod Bless,
Patrick.
Thank you, Patrick.
DeleteLay ministry is not synonymous with ecclesial tasks and roles in the minds of many, so when we speak of lay ministry the authentic mission of the laity in evangelising the world is lost under the impression that it is a derogative 'know your place' attitude from clergy rather than 'value your place'.
God Bless
This is another example of the results of the retreat from Tradition by our higher clergy and their priest collaborators . The virtual destruction of the Latin Mass in the name of progress caused a huge break in many other areas and from the continuous religious sense of previous generations. It will take years to recover it. And good holy priests too.
ReplyDeleteThank you Paul.
DeleteThe loss of the Traditional Mass changed the face of the Church. In England the saying went "Its the Mass that matters"; if we could change the Mass, we could change anything -and we did!
God Bless.
Whilst I agree with the tone of your post I flinch a little at the first paragraph and quote. The document in question is so very clear at including Deacons in all sections except the one quoted. Article 1 - Need for Appropriate Terminology does not mention Deacons at all and yet adopts the non-ordained / Priests and Bishops division. Deacons are ordained to service, and whilst you are correct that they likely should not be termed Chaplains for fear of confusion, it is unfair to suggest they are pseudo-clergy, or non-ordained.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Matthew.
DeleteI hope the post doesn't suggest that Deacons are not ordained, and that it simply notes that they do not have the character of priesthood. The use of the ordianed/non-ordained may come from the fact that there were seven steps to the order of priesthood as defined by the Council of Trent; episcopacy was a consecration which loosened the powers possessed by the presbyter, thus conferring the full exercise of the ministry of priesthood in the priest consecrated as Bishop.
The point made in the paragraph is simply that for chaplaincy work the character of Priesthood is required, since pastors must be able to absolve and anoint, sacramental ministrations which are not within the character or the Diaconate.
I hope that clarifies things. Perhaps I need to write and addendum.
God Bless
The problem, as I see it, is that many bishops have lost control of their senior clergy and are unable to exercise the authority they possess. They lack the courage needed to enforce the discipline that is required of their office. Many senior clergy are imbued with the 'spirit' of Vat II and actively encourage, or turn a blind eye, to those who simply do what they want. This refusal to obey legitimate authority, in turn, is followed by many of the laity who have 'ministries' which gives them a false sense of importance. Anarchy now rules.
ReplyDeleteThere are two actions by lay 'ministers' which I find completely objectionable. One is the giving of blessings to people who come forward at Communion time but do not receive the Host, and the other is the placing of ashes on foreheads on Ash Wednesday. I find it arrogant beyond belief that a lay person feels they have the right and authority to bless someone while acting as an 'Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist, and to tell them to repent and believe in the Gospel when distributing ashes.
I also find my blood pressure rising when I see a priest leaving the sanctuary to shake hands with all and sundry when they have been told on numerous occasions that this is forbidden.
Unfortunately, the rot is now so deep that when a priest faithfully follows the rules he is looked upon as the one who is out of step and is the subject of complaints.
Thank you for the comment.
DeleteActually, I find it very hard as a priest to preach, offer Mass and distribute ashes, for it is a disciple calling the disciples to holiness; a broken vessels bringing the Lord onto the altar; a weak shepherd feeding the flock and a sinner calling a sinner to repent and believe the Gospel. I am encouraged by my former Spiritual Director (KG -RIP) telling me that if we waited for the perfect man for priesthood we would never have a priest.
Bishops and priests are, I think, simply unable to move out of the box in which they were formed in the 1960's-1990's; common practice simply affirming them all in that box. Your last sentence rings very true for a number of clergy, I suspect.
God Bless.
The Irish 'Association of Catholic Priests' was founded by a priest who holds that Jesus did not institute a priesthood beyond that of all believers. Presumably some (many?) of those (1,000 plus) priests who felt it right to join his organisation believe the same. Gradualism has worked very well so far, first blurring/diluting then outright denial of a truth, and it may well be in operation in this regard.
ReplyDeleteOne of the priests in my parish has been seen to sit in the sanctuary while lay people distribute and to smile happily watching a laywoman (it's always a woman standing beside him never one of the men 'ministers') blessing those who don't receive. It makes me want to scream!
Thank you, Lepanto.
DeleteIf the priests think there is no priesthood founded by Christ, they are exercising a priesthood they don;'t believe they have -which act lacks logic and integrity.
The situation in your parish is outright irregular and demonstrates a lack of knowledge of and/or obedience to The Faith in those taking part in such actions and in those condoning them. Very sad.
God Bless.
Thanks Father. I think that they believe that they are priests but are on a mission to persuade every Catholic/every Christian that they are priests too.
DeleteThank you, Lepanto.
DeleteMinisterial Priests are confused by the fact that we all share the common priesthood. Being set aside in ministerial priesthood to serve the common priesthood seems to have escaped too many today.
God Bless.
Just today I heard a priest invite those who did not wish to receive holy Communion to come forward for a blessing. He said that it was perfectly OK to receive a blessing from the extraordinary minister because the blessing comes from God and not the person. I was stunned.
ReplyDeleteTrue, the blessing does come from God, but through His chosen instruments, the priests.
DeleteThe EMHC may pray with someone for their blessing, but not impart one.
God Bless.